Two games in season 2007/08 also saw us avoid defeat in the shape of a fine 3-1 win over Motherwell - with the 'Well goal controversial as there was a handball in the build-up - and a draw with St. Johnstone in the cup (less said about the replay the better). He awarded them a penalty that day, which was as stonewall as you are ever going to see.
Mr McDonald seems to enjoy being in charge of our games at Falkirk as he was the referee when we beat them 2-0 in April 2007, giving us a penalty and correctly sending one of their players. He was also in charge of our two games at Tynecastle that season - including the famous 1-0 win - and the meaningless, end of season defeat to Caley Thistle.
He'd also taken charge of a meaningless game at the end of the previous season as we lost 1-0 to the Fake Saints before lifting the first division trophy. Defeats seemed to be a common theme that season as we also lost the other game he officiated, a 3-1 setback at Hamilton. Apparently he did none of our games in 2003/04 or 2004/05.
If you go back to 2002/03 he took charge of three of our games. There was the win at Ross County in the League Challenge Cup - a tie we took on penalties - and defeats at Clyde and Inverness Caley Thistle. There were also three games the season before, which didn't go well. A goalless draw at Falkirk isn't a disaster, but a 5-1 defeat to them at Love Street is - especially as Brian McGinty was sent off, probably correctly. The other game saw Partick Thistle clinch the league title at Love Street, with a McGinty goal rather harshly ruled out for offside.
Mr McDonald was most active with us in our ill fated 2001/01 SPL season. There were defeats to Aberdeen and Motherwell as well as a League Cup win over Dunfermline. He also gave us our first penalty of the season when we lost 3-1 to Rangers, and sent Ricky Gillies off in a 2-2 draw at St. Johnstone (we had been 2-0 up but the decision was correct). The only other game Soccerbase shows was in 2000 when we rattled eight past Clydebank - same again on Saturday please!
This official has done a lot of games for Dundee United over the years, so I'll only pick out the notable ones. Two of those were last season and were a 3-1 win over Hearts, when the Jambos had Eggert Jonsson sent off, and a 3-0 home loss to Rangers that let them lift the league title. However, the season before he was the man in the middle when the Arabs beat Rangers 2-1 at home - and he even gave them a penalty!
Going back a bit further, Mr McDonald was the referee for two 5-1 defeats at the hands of Falkirk, one of which saw Noel Hunt sent off and effectively spelled the end for manager Craig Brewster. Back in early 2006 he sent off two players in a 1-1 draw with Hearts at Tannadice - Barry Robson and Julien Brellier. The previous season he took charge of a Dundee derby that United lost, even though their rivals ended up with just 10 men. He did another Dundee derby in 2001/02 that finished in a draw, and the same season he took charge of a United win at Easter Road that saw them also have Jamie Fullarton (remember him?) sent off. The only other game of note came in 2000/01, when the Arabs lost 5-3 to 10 man Aberdeen at Tannadice.
Mr McDonald has already done a few games this season and showed eight yellow cards in last week's draw between the Fake Saints and Motherwell. Let's hope he's not as card happy on Saturday.